Massive fire breaks out at the Pavlovskaya oil depot in Krasnodar during drone attack

A major fire has broken out at the Pavlovskaya oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region, on the night of Saturday, September 27 into Sunday, September 28, 2026, during a large-scale drone attack that struck the region, as The Kyiv Independent reports.

Footage of the flames and a thick column of smoke rising over buildings was published by the Ukrainian Telegram channel “Exilenova+”, which identified the struck facility as the Pavlovskaya oil depot. The Kyiv Independent has not independently verified either the published footage or the identity of the struck facility.

The attack comes just two days after a Ukrainian strike on the Ilsky oil refinery in the same region on September 26, which also sparked a fire. The attack was confirmed by Ukraine’s General Staff, which said it was carried out by the Unmanned Systems Forces — the 1st Separate Center and the 414th “Magyar’s Birds” Brigade.

Ukraine has stepped up long-range strikes against Russian oil infrastructure in recent weeks — what Kyiv calls “long-range sanctions.” On September 21, the Ukrainian General Staff declared that 45% of Russia’s oil refining capacity was out of operation, a figure that has not been independently verified.